If you page through your scrapbook of printed-out Autopian articles, you may find, around the end of last year, that we wrote about an entrepreneur who saw my videos and articles about the legendary cheapest car in the world, the Changli, and the legend of that remarkable, ridiculous machine inspired him to start a company selling uprated Changli-type EVs in America. That company is called Wink, and when I was in New York not so long ago, I got to drive one. Much like the Changli that inspired it, it’s not a vehicle for every circumstance, but in the right context, the right situation, these make an absolute metric crapton of sense. I think New York City is one of those contexts. 
I’m sure most of you looking at the Wink Mark I up there are noticing a car that resembles, in a vague but persistent way, a modern Mini, only more, you know, mini. Wink CEO Mark Dweck, who has a lifetime of experience in product design, sales, importation, marketing, licensing, and all of that sort of thing, assures me that the Wink is easily differentiated enough that he’s not concerned with Mini making a fuss about it, and I trust his judgement here. What the hell do I know?
The Wink looks similar to other low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles you can find on Alibaba , and while it gets its start in a factor similar to this one, the car has been quite extensively modified for use on American roads, and, as a result, are actually legal, DOT- and NHTSA registered, with VINs and everything, vehicles permitted to operate on any street with a 35 mph or less speed limit. That covers an awful lot of streets in an awful lot of places that I know, from experience with my Changli, that you don’t really need a full-sized car to drive on.
So What’s It Like To Drive?
I drove the Wink Mark I through multiple loops around the Grant Memorial in Upper Manhattan, and drove to and from there. It was a good amount of driving through a lot of congested NYC streets, all ideal situations for a car like this. The speed is governed at 25 mph, but it could do more, if that was legal, which, on this class of vehicle, isn’t. So, 25 mph it is.
The governing system could still use some tweaking, though, and Dweck noted that he was aware of this and would have it corrected. The issue was in attempting to throttle the power of the motor to keep it at no more than 25 mph, sometimes the power would cut back when you were below 25 but accelerating. This is, of course, annoying, and can make things like maintaining speed up an incline frustrating. I’ll trust that this’ll get fixed, though.
Other than that, it drives quite easily, and there’s enough torque that it doesn’t seem slow off the line and it handles hills better than the ravenous 1.1 hp Changli motor does. The motor makes about 4 hp normally, but can peak at 9 hp – remember, that’s how much the original Citroën 2CV made, too. It feels suited well enough to move 1,190 pounds of Wink around. Here, you can see some video action of me driving the thing, right here:
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The braking is perhaps the most dramatic driving improvement over my Changli; where my Changli used an all-mechanical drum brake setup only active on the rear wheels and actuated through, basically, a metal stick connected to the pedals, the Wink has a real hydraulic dual-circuit brake setup specially designed for the Wink and not available in the Chinese market for similar cars.
The brakes felt good and stopped the car surely and quickly, even downhill. In the crowded and often chaotic environments where these cars are best suited to be used, good brakes are a must. This was a wise addition to the Americanization of the Wink.
It handles fine for what it is, which is something tiny and tall and light; the lithium-ion battery is low and the motor is mounted on the rear differential, which is part of a live axle design, suspended by coil springs, so it’s built a bit like an old-school pickup truck, suspension-wise. It’s not a sports car for so very many reasons, and this is one of them.
Even if you’re probably not going to autocross this thing, it’s nimble and agile and ideal for weaving in and out of traffic in crowded cities and nipping through little gaps and finding tiny nooks in which to park. It’s the right tool for this job.
Is It Comfortable?
I’ve always felt that moving through New York City is almost always a chore. If you’re walking/public transporting, you have to load up everything you’ll need and trudge around and cram yourself into metal tubes of cranky New Yorkers, and when you finally get back home, you’re exhausted. Driving isn’t much better, because it’s stressful and slow and finding parking is a perpetual Kafkaesque nightmare.
But a little not-quite-a-car like this Wink I think can take out much of the sting of moving through the city. The interior is small, but the boxy proportions maximize the space so it feels roomy; it can seat four and even accommodate a bit of luggage with the seat up; with just two people and the seat folded, you can cram a surprising amount of stuff through that rear hatch.
The upholstery isn’t likely to be made of only royal-lineage yak-hide like a Bentley or something, it’s just vinyl, but it’s not terrible, and all of the quilted vinyl floormats and luggage area flooring looks good and seems pretty hard-wearing.
By far the most important upgrade made specifically for the Wink when it comes to comfort is the addition of air-conditioning. Even in my Changli, replete with its backup camera and USB port for playing music, the idea of having A/C was a dream as wild as having the seats stuffed with phoenix feathers. And yet, there it is, right on the dash of the Wink.
The A/C hardware and condenser are all crammed under the front hood of the Wink, which was never outfitted for use as a frunk anyway, so there’s no loss of storage space. For the size of the car, the condenser seems huge, which can’t hurt. The A/C, when I tried it out, blew, as they say, cubes, so it seems to be worth it. Temperatures this summer have been record-setting, and I don’t see that trend reversing any time soon. A/C makes a ton of sense, even in a car as minimal as this.
Oh, one odd detail that could fit in driving or comfort categories: the go-pedal is oddly central in the car. Like, it’s about at the centerline. It’s just a strange position to put the accelerator, but I guess I got used to it.
Other Electronic Whatevers
The Wink has most of the modern stuff you’d expect of a real car, including a big, center-stack display in a round bezel that of course has nothing to do with recent Mini dashboard design, in case you were wondering. That display has a touchscreen interface running some sort of knockoff iPhone/Android-looking software, but you can connect your phone via Bluetooth, and, honestly, it’s probably no worse than lots of carmaker-designed UX systems, really.
The backup camera image is nice and clear, and there’s USB charging ports on the dash as well. Oh, and don’t forget those two hilarious but probably useful little swiveling fan on the dashboard there, which likely suck a lot less energy than running the A/C. Oh, and the windows are power, too! No hand cranking like some filthy animal for you!
Speaking of energy, the only way to charge a Wink is with normal 120V wall power, and charging the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4, and the cells come from BYD) from flat to full should take about six to eight hours, according to Wink. That full charge delivers a range of, I was told, 40-60 miles. I haven’t had a chance to verify this myself.
That’s actually a decent amount of range for something like this, and I suspect for most people who use these as in-town get-around cars, you could probably charge them one or two nights a week and be in good shape. The external charge indicator used when charging is a charmingly dorky-looking little thing, too:
I’ve seen that same dentist’s-office-kid’s-prize-bin-looking little meter on other small EVs, so it must be a standard part that just works, and I guess that’s all I can really ask of it. It is in a pretty vulnerable location, parking-wise, but the Wink does have ultrasonic parking sensors that would hopefully warn you before you crush your little charge meter to crumbs.
Overall Takeaway
I think tiny sub-car EVs like this have a real and important place in our transportation tapestry, and this little Wink, so similar in so many ways to my humble Changli, I know is the sort of thing that, used with some understanding of its limitations, can prove to be an exceptionally useful machine.
It’s just under $12,000, and while that does strike me as a lot for a car like this (remember, with shipping, my Changli came in at $3,300 or so), it’s worth looking at how much has been done to the Wink over the Changli. Significantly, it’s all legal. DOT certified and having a real VIN is nothing at which to sneeze, and should make ownership of a vehicle like this much easier, in many ways. I’ve been riding a bit dirty in my Changli, after all, but tell no one, please.
Also, there’s the safety upgrades. The dual-circuit hydraulic brakes are a huge improvement, and there’s real DOT-certified safety glass, seat belts, lights, indicators, wipers, everything. No car of this size is going to be really safe, but this has some genuine and serious upgrades that I think make it significantly safer, and, given the low speeds and environments these run in, absolutely reasonable.
Plus, that LiFePO4 battery is miles better than the crappy lead-acids my Changli came with, and should last a lot longer, too. So, given all of that, I think the price is pretty reasonable. I’d love to see prices of these get below $10,000, but so far I know of no other option for something like the Wink, with all of the safety and legal upgrades, that’s any cheaper. And, of course, it’s worth remembering that golf carts are still absurdly priced for what you get.
Look what $12 grand gets you from the golf cart world:
I mean, look at that: no doors, no windows, no A/C, no wipers, and on and on. It’s not a viable solution for, say, a New York winter. Or rain, anywhere. So, compared to something like that, the Wink starts to seem like a pretty good deal.
Will these sorts of things catch on? I hope so. I mean, if you live in a city like New York or San Francisco or some college town and do most of your driving in-town, why bother with some big-ass, boring SUV or crossover? Why not end-run around the hassle and squeeze in parking spots between a dumpster and a wall and spend nothing for gas? Cut that Gordian knot of traffic and hassle!
Even if the Wink isn’t the final form of whatever these sorts of vehicles will be, it’s a step in the right direction, and I applaud it for that.
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Such a hard sell when you can get a used BMW i3 for around the same price, and then get federal and local incentives. A $12k full BEV i3 is eligible for nearly $7k in incentives where I live.
Mistake!
Not for me. The road at the end of my driveway is 45, so this could never leave my property, nor do I have enough acreage to justify one either.
So, how long until the Changli is upgraded to LiFePO4 and a ravenous four horses?
Tell us the truth, Torch. Can an adult with actual legs sit in the back seats? And if all the seats are occupied, will it still hit 25mph with the AC on?
High end god courses could by these. I struggle to see any benefit that golf cart has over the Wink. It would make playing in inclimate weather much more pleasant
Yay this is one step towards putting the gougers in their place!
And yes, it does need to go to Autocross 😀
1) someone absolutely needs to autocross this—preferably alongside a stock known car for comparison. Honda Fit, Smart-something like that.
2) I get the 25mph governor to keep it under reasonable safety standards rules (otherwise it quickly spirals into too heavy/big/complex/expensive), but I think it’s going to need an easy unlock to 35mph to make any sort of dent. Just look at the comments here.
Im not sure you’d even be allowed to autocross something like this. The Ford Fiesta of all vehicles (the Base, not the ST) was actually banned from many organized events for being too narrow/tall and posing a significant rollover risk.
So it’s a better golf cart basically? Don’t get me wrong, super neat little thing to whip around in if it’s practical for you.
I also envision the guy making these, when asked if he’s worried about Mini being upset, responds with less of a “I’m not concerned” and more of a “Nahhh, it’s fine”.
I like things like these…but I don’t see how you buy this instead of say, a 5-6 year old Chevy Cruze w/ 50-100k miles on it for the same price.
And even if you’re limited to 25mph roads – I just can’t see driving something this small unless every other car was also that sized. But that’s obviously…a separate issue.
Anyway, I’d rather read about this than whatever new 28,000lb canyonero EV is coming out next.
I don’t know the difference and am far too lazy to compare, but the wink sprout is only 10k, and looks pretty similar so for the comment that you’d like to see them cheaper, there’s an option for that
It looks to me like a Think City that got squashed. For NYC traffic I would go for something like bumper car with a roof so you would bounce of the taxis rather than crumpling..
Actually a modernized Think City would be an excellent urban runabout.
Let’s see the crash test results for this thing getting broadsided at 30 mph by a clapped out Crown Vic NYC taxi.
I want to like this and I want to want one but the 25 mph is an absolute killer.
I live in Chicago, less than 7 miles from the loop and there is no good route to take to get this car there where I would not be forced off the road for being an obstruction to traffic.
Like this, but able to go 50, even at the cost of 20 miles of range, and would be throwing money at them but as it sits It’s almost useless.
The 25 mile per hour cap makes them totally eligible for NEVS standards. If this guy was trying to certify them for faster than that, they would have to meet all current safety standards.
I understand WHY they are doing it but that doesn’t change the fact that the standard there makes it mostly useless.
In most suburbs you cannot get to shopping from homes without a road over 35-40mph.
More rural that becomes even more of a thing.
Even here in the city it is the same if not speed limit wise but flow of traffic wise.
I need to hit at least 35mph to get down the block to my grocery store; there aren’t any 15mph back roads to get there (suburban sprawl). I like what the Wink owner is looking to do, but I don’t think the Mark 1 is cute enough to pull the EV fans. I was warmer to the totally-not-a-Jeep Sprout, but it looks a little more Changli, which probably isn’t for the masses. The Citroën Ami is probably what most people are looking for out of this segment.
I was ready to slam this until you pointed out what a golf cart cost. Yikes! I would much rather have this than a golf cart for the a/c, if nothing else. I’m still afraid mean girls would tip it over, though.
No.
Your comparison to a golf cart is the only thing that made sense. If you live in an environment where a golf cart is allowed, this is better.
I read an article the other day in the WSJ about a guy with a ’74 Fiat 500 in NYC – he says driving it there is scary as hell. And it at least can go over 25 if it has to. I can’t see feeling safe in a big city in this thing.
Man there’s been a lot of “This tiny vehicle is enough for most of you” articles here recently.
I offer my services to write a rebuttal article “This is why an International CXT or F650 is actually the perfect daily driver” free of charge.
The thing is smaller cars ARE enough for most commuters; but yet you see people in giant SUVs, trucks and other stuff all alone in traffic because… *reasons*
I own a giant inefficient truck, I have owned a street driven some truly insane vehicles from a size/economy standpoint and not a single one has ever been my daily driver.
Why feed a monster when you can drive an econo-beater and put that money into RACE CAR?
Because driving something fun is better than saving a few bucks on gas?
You drive no fun to afford extreme fun.
The low cost and MPG on my beater metro let me afford to build and feed a 13:1 377 and keep it fed. Holley 4500s are hungry monsters.
But if your commute is short enough that you could actually do it comfortably in a golf cart-sized car, then it really doesn’t matter how fuel efficient your vehicle is or isn’t.
Hahahaha, freaking IH CXTs. I’ve seen a few of those up close. Hilarious and awesome. International has a special place in my heart.
There are always weirdos like me who like things either as large or as tiny as possible, no in-between. 🙂
An article on my docket this week is actually about the International CXT, International MXT, Ford F-650, GMC TopKick, and other medium-duty trucks that you could order with a pickup bed!
I’m anxiously awaiting it!
I’ll keep driving my Miata, thank you very much.
The name of the car comes from “Yeah, sure, absolutely, we definitely pay a living wage to the workers who build these things and their components… Wink, Wink…”
The thing is I need a car that goes 50km/h in order to go every place I need to drive – the roads I need to take are usually busy-ish and going under the speed limit would be quite unsafe. Especially when a good ol’ boy half in the bag on Minhas gets impatient in his lifted Ram because I’m impeding his trip to the vape store.
I had to go get some cream for coffee and I rode my Versys 650 about 7 km to the supermarket of my choosing, picked up 2 grocery bags worth of miscellaneous, spontaneous purchases, stuffed the bags in my panniers and rode 12 km home. There is no reason this could not have been done in a Wink, although the traffic would have to be handled differently.
Does the charger lock into the car to prevent people from unplugging it without approval? If not it really seems like you need parking on a property where it can’t be messed with.
It won’t be too many years before vehicles like this will be the only ones allowed in large city centers like New York and London that are already in the midst of closing down access to larger, more polluting cars. In the meantime, I personally would be nervous mixing in traffic with the much larger, heavier vehicles that dominate our roads today, though I will admit I’m not daunted by riding a bicycle in the same traffic. Still…
Between this and a gently used Leaf or comparable for the same money I think its clear which is the winner*.
*It ain’t this 😉
It’s cute, but I’d get shot in Houston holding up traffic at 25mph on even the quietest of side streets.
Houston, we have a problem.
Thus really does seem a good compromise. My question is why is it governed to 25mph when legally allowed on roads up to 35mph? Seems like makes it a worse answer. I say take it to FLA, Make sure it is also golf course friendly. The lack of hills is a bonus as well.